Invocation

Śrī Rāmacaritamānasa (The Mānasa lake containing the exploits of Śrī Rāma) Descent Three (Araṇya-Kāṇḍa) I reverence Bhagavān Śaṅkara, the progeny of Brahmā, the very root of the tree of piety, the beloved devotee of King Śrī Rāma, the full moon that brings joy to the ocean of wisdom, the sun that opens the lotus of dispassion, the wind that disperses the clouds of ignorance, who dispels the thick darkness of sin and eradicates the threefold agony and who wipes off obloquy. (1) I worship Śrī Rāma, the delighter of all, whose graceful form is an embodiment of joy and is dark as a rainy cloud, who is clad in a charming yellow bark and carries in His hands a bow and an arrow, who has a beautiful, shining and well-equipped quiver fastened at His back and has a pair of large lotus eyes, who is adorned with a tuft of matted locks on His head and who is seen walking with Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa. (2)

Śrī Rāma’s virtues, O Pārvatī, are mysterious. The sages as well as learned men develop dispassion when they comprehend them; while the deluded fools, who are hostile to Śrī Hari and have no love for piety, get bewildered on hearing of them.